Leonardo Live

LEONARDO LIVE, a cinematic tour of the sold-out National Gallery in London exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, created especially for movie theater audiences. A first-of-its-kind cinema event debuts in movie theaters across the country for one night only on the big screen on Thursday, February 16 at 7:00pm. Presented by NCM Fathom, BY Experience and Phil Grabsky Films.

LEONARDO LIVE provides a virtual walk-through of the exhibition with exclusive commentary from scholars and curators. Hosted by art historian Tim Marlow and presenter Mariella Frostrup. The exhibition brings together the largest number of Leonardo da Vinci’s rare surviving paintings and international loans that have never been shown together until now.

About the exhibition at the National Gallery in London (November 9-February 8, 2012):

Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan is the most complete display of Leonardo’s rare surviving paintings ever held. This unprecedented exhibition – the first of its kind anywhere in the world – brings together sensational international loans never before seen in the UK.

While numerous exhibitions have looked at Leonardo da Vinci as an inventor, scientist or draughtsman, this is the first to be dedicated to his aims and techniques as a painter. Inspired by the recently restored National Gallery painting, The Virgin of the Rocks, this exhibition focuses on Leonardo as an artist. In particular it concentrates on the work he produced as court painter to Duke Lodovico Sforza in Milan in the late 1480s and 1490s.

As a painter, Leonardo aimed to convince viewers of the reality of what they were seeing while still aspiring to create ideals of beauty – particularly in his exquisite portraits – and, in his religious works, to convey a sense of awe-inspiring mystery.

An exhibition guide provides an overview of the exhibition and includes labels of all paintings on display.